Mark Kozelek - Like Rats - 02.19.13

[Beldo]

I will say his vocals are ace on this. "Green Hell" is probably my favorite. I'm just sick of that nylon string finger picking. I feel like I'm developing an allergy to it.

[Rick V]

I will say his vocals are ace on this. "Green Hell" is probably my favorite. I'm just sick of that nylon string finger picking. I feel like I'm developing an allergy to it.

That's exactly what it is for me - the nylon string finger picking. I long for the day Koz is over that and gets back to electric and regular acoustic.

[Sandusky]

This is up on Spotify. Listened to it about 5x so far. My lowdown: the good--"Silly Girl" and "Onward"--both of these sound like Koz originals. Sound like something off of "What's Next To The Moon". Very melodic with just Mark and guitar. All these songs clock in at GBV lengths, a rarity in the Kozelek universe of 14 minute songs. I downloaded these 2 plus "I Killed My Mommy" and "Young Girls", both of these, I got the live versions. Sound a lot better than the studio cut, as Koz always plays around with melodies live. I like "Green Hell" and "Right Back Where We Started From"--thinking about buying those too. The rest is not doing it for me. The Godflesh and Bad Brains' covers are yawnfest, with all that flamenco guitar. The Ted Nugent cover sucks, this real fast bluesy thing. Sounds like it's about fucking groupies or something. The Sonny & Cher cover seems pointless, like Koz tossed it off in the studio in 3 minutes to pad the album. "13" is too monotonous and bluesy. So yeah, I like 6 songs.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

I wish the Bad Brains cover had been 'I Against I' instead. Hell, Jeff Buckley pulled it off.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Here's a Spotify playlist of the songs MK has covered over the years - from regular studio and official live recordings. Quite a variety and a nice way to jump off into some other stuff. I made it collaborative so add your own if you think I've missed any.

http://open.spotify.com/user/sfbjohnson ... JQBqzN6vQg

[Machine]

There are a couple good songs here but I don't know what's going on with the Koz of late. Lazy is a good way of describing his output of late. He needs to lose the flamenco, nylon string schtick and get back to business. It's past it's due date. I just worry that him being no spring chicken that he ain't ever going backwards.

[RavingLunatic]

I'm 9 songs in and this sounds fucking terrible. Koz mailed this one in, just like Among the Leaves. I just hope the Album Leaf guy can somehow revive his flagging career.

[Acuff-Rose]

Koz backlash on teh ACTs???? Oh the humanity!!!

[Sandusky]

I was actually listening to this the other day and loving it. "Silly Girl" is my favorite. I've come around on the Godflesh and Bad Brains cover, spin them a few times and they'll start sinking in. The whole thing reminds me a lot of What's Next To The Moon.

[Beldo]

How'd I miss this? Just tour with a band already, Mark! You can pay them in beer! I know people who would do it!

[FridayNightHasKilledMe]

I'm 9 songs in and this sounds fucking terrible. Koz mailed this one in, just like Among the Leaves. I just hope the Album Leaf guy can somehow revive his flagging career.

Ditto. I kinda hate this album. I'm not really big on his covers only albums anyway, but at least the AC/DC/Modest Mouse albums had some good covers. This has nothing I like and I'm sad to say he butchered one of my favorite Descendents songs.

I wouldn't go as far to say that Kozelek is flagging, but it seems he hit a rough patch. Kind of his fault for flooding the market with so many releases. Weird to think he took so long between Old Ramon, Ghosts, and April.